The Single Most Important Interview Question Is...

There are a great deal of interviewing strategies, techniques and methodologies out there.  Some of these techniques are good, some good only in theory.   However, interviewing doesn’t need to be so complicated that it warrants books on the topic.  An interview is nothing more than a conversation with a purpose – with that purpose being to learn if this person is a good fit for the role and culture of the company.

There is one question that will tell you a tremendous amount about a candidate…

“What made you decide to leave that position?”

If you ask this question about a candidate’s current position and every position they list on their resume you will learn a tremendous amount about how they process the world around them, their character and what drives them.

In order to make this question work for you, you must really dig into the answer.  Don’t accept anything vague or answers that don’t make sense.   Listen to what they focus on, as that is what drives their internal motivations.  Be sure to look at trends.  If a candidate left their last 3 jobs because of the same reason, there is likely more to the story.

Think about these responses:

·      “Personal” – Not good enough, ask for more information about what was happening that made them decide to leave their employment.

·      “It was time to make a change” - Why?

·      “Wanted more money” – Was this not an option where they currently work? What prevented you from getting a raise?  If the candidate has only been there a year ask: “If you were excited to take the job at this salary, what changed to make you feel you need higher compensation at this time?” 

·      “Layoff” – I like to ask how large the reduction in force was.  If it was just them, dig in a bit more.

·      “The company was going through changes and everyone was leaving” – Not acceptable.  You want independent thinkers.

·      “Company could not make payroll” – You can’t argue with that one.

·      “I outgrew the role” – First ask if there was any opportunity at the company to grow in the direction they wanted.  If there was and it was not available to them, dig in there may be a red flag.  If there wasn’t, or there is a logical reason for that opportunity not being available, then this is a valid reason.

·      “I am not a cultural fit” – Dig in more, but may be valid and you have to applaud the candidate for being wise enough to recognize it.

·      “I have learned I want to have challenges in…” – If those challenges are not available where they are now, this is very valid.

The list of answers could go on and on.  If you really dig into the answers to this single question, you will have a solid understanding of the candidate’s drive, character and motivation by the end of your conversation.

Social media management can be overwhelming.  Adam Connell did a great job summarizing the pros and cons of the top tools used today.
Jeff

13 Best Social Media Management Tools

1 Sep 2013

by Adam Connell

In the following post you’re going to discover some of the most powerful social media tools on the market. These will help you save more time managing your social accounts, pull out actionable insights about influencers and ultimately help you get results.
Social media has some huge benefits, you can use it to promote your content and you can use it to connect with influencers.
That’s great, but when you’ve got various profiles across a number of different social networks, managing them can become extremely time consuming.
What if you could find a way to save an incredible amount of time, connect with more influencers than before and ultimately get more from your social media marketing efforts?
The collection of tools that I’ve put together for you are the answer – all of them are extremely powerful and have some great features.
Hold on to your hats …

Top Social Media Management Tools

Social Oomph (Free + $)

Sure, it doesn’t look pretty but it doesn’t need to be. Social Oomph gets the job done.
Social Oomph will take your productivity to the next level with advanced scheduling, integrated timelines, click tracking, advanced methods of combatting Twitter spam, support for Facebook and Linkedin along with support for unlimited accounts.
You can even manage multiple blogs right from your account which means managing your blogs can be done easily. Social Oomph supports a number of different platforms from free blogging platforms to self-hosted WordPress installations.
There are free and paid accounts available, but you really need the paid account to make the most of it, pricing starts at around $26 per month and you will never need to pay any more than that no matter how many accounts you use.
I have a paid account and it saves me loads of time, it’s an integral part of my social media toolbox.
Sign up for an account | Read the review

Buffer (Free + $)

Buffer makes scheduling status updates so easy.
The annoying thing about pressing the tweet button or publishing an update on most social platforms is that it goes out straight away, not when you want.
Sometimes you want to share a few posts but if you share them all at the same time then chances are you’ll annoy your followers – Buffer allows you to spread them out how you want.
Just add an update to your Buffer and they will be published at pre-determined times which you can change to whatever you like.
The great news here is that Buffer is now compatible with Google+ pages which isn’t supported by many platforms (yet).
There’s also helpful analytics and the option to setup team members.
The ‘Awesome’ account as they call it, starts at $10/month.
Sign up for an account

Hootsuite (Free + $)

Hootsuite is the tool that I use for my day to day management of my social media accounts.
It makes responding and updating profiles really easy and their mobile app makes things pretty easy when I’m on the go.
The free account limits you to 5 social profiles, gives you basic scheduling and reporting but the real good stuff happens when you get on the pro account.
The pro account allows you to monitor and update over 50 social profiles along with some other helpful features.
You can also import unlimited RSS feeds to your social profiles and while you are better off doing things manually, this is a quick way to keep your profiles updated if you are short on time.
The free account may do what you need, but it’s well worth giving their 30 day pro account free trial a go to see what you think, if you like it then it’s only $8.99 a month.
Sign up for a 30 day pro account free trial

Tweepi (Free + $)

The way that Tweepi can help you is by giving you the ability to clean up your account and figure out who to follow, who to unfollow etc.
The unfortunate part is that you can’t really do all that much with the free account, all the good stuff is part of the premium account (as you’d expect).
Premium accounts start at $7.99 per month but the data you’ll be able to get back more than makes up for it.
You’ll be able to make decisions based on Klout score, verified accounts, protected, location, # followers, # statuses, follow ratio and clean up all those accounts with the egg display picture.
Sign up for an account

Commun.it (Free + $)

Commun.it is unlike any other Twitter management tool I have ever come across.
It is geared towards helping you engage with influencers which is awesome because Influencer Marketing is huge but what really makes this platform great is that it tells you what to do next.
The free account is quite limited however, but it’s still incredibly useful.
Pricing starts from around $30 if you’re paying monthly which allows you to add 4 profiles and have unlimited engagements – if you need more then there are a few other accounts that add other helpful features.
Sign up for an account

Manage Flitter (Free+ $)

Manage Flitter is focused mostly on Twitter as opposed to the likes of Social Oomph and Hootsuite that offer a more complete social media management solution.
That being said, Manage Flitter has some extremely useful features that highlight who to follow and who to unfollow. For example, are you following fake profiles? Manage Flitter will tell you.
You can also use Manage Flitter to import your Google+ posts to Twitter.
One feature that really jumps out at me is the ‘Power Post’ feature that allows you to post updates at the best times.
You can add different pieces of data and overlay it on a time line so you can visually see when the best time to post is.
Types of data you can add boils down to when particular segments of people are on Twitter, you can add particular locations, people you follow and the pro account allows you to add your followers which is incredibly useful.
Sign up for an account

Market Me Suite (Free +$)

While Manage Flitter focuses more on Twitter, Market Me Suite is a different kettle of fish (so to speak) it’s positioned as more of a complete social media management tool.
Plans start from free but you’re restricted to 1 profile and only a few scheduled messages although if that’s enough for you then I’m sure you’ll find some of the features interesting.
The pro plan starts at $15 per month and lifts the limit on profiles and adds team members, analytics and other add ons.
The way Market Me Suite works isn’t as much about ‘personal’ social media use but using social media for generating business leads.
Sign up for an account

TweetDeck (Free)

TweetDeck is pretty awesome and it’s completely free; providing you an easy to use tool that you can use to monitor and manage unlimited accounts, schedule tweets and more.
There is a mobile app too so staying updated on the go is extremely easy.
Despite this being a tool owned by Twitter it also integrates Facebook too.
On a personal note, I do prefer the feel of Hootsuite (maybe that’s because I’m so used to it) but TweetDeck does seem to deliver more data in your Twitter feed, including who’s followed you etc.
Learn more here

Raven Tools ($)

Raven Tools comes in at a higher starting price point ($99 p/month) but you get so much more because this is a complete marketing toolset that includes in depth research tools, rank tracking, PPC management, SEO and social media management tools.
I won’t go too much into the other features here (please note, they are awesome) since we’re talking more about social media.
Raven Tools is currently compatible with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube – it includes a monitoring tool that pulls in mentions from search results across a bunch of different platforms, so if you’re looking for an alternative to Google Alerts too, then this is the tool for you.
There’s even some really useful reporting functionality that pull in metrics from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Raven Tools is team friendly and also has a built in CRM and task management system – the Swiss army knife of marketing platforms.
Sign up for the 30 day free trial

Sprout Social ($)

Sprout Social is a comprehensive social media marketing platform that puts all of your social profiles in one place.
There’s a task management system built in to make tracking what you’re doing easy, especially if you’re working with teams.
Sprout Social has put a lot of thought into scheduling, similar to Buffer there is a ‘Sprout Queue’ that you can add updates to that will filter out whenever you like.
You’ve got all the usual search and profile clean up options that a lot of other social media management tools (especially those that focus on Twitter) have these days.
Supported social platforms include the following:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Google+ Pages
• Linkedin

Along with integration for RSS feeds and Google Analytics.
Sign up here

Social Bro ($)

Social Bro currently just supports Twitter but it brings you the complete package that allows you to;

• Target the right people
• Engage with the right people
• Analytics and tracking
• Twitter management

There is so much to this tool that you really need to sign up to their free trial to see exactly what it can do.
A few other interesting features include Hootsuite integration and their ‘best time to tweet’ function.
Overall, Social Bro starts at a lower price point than most tools, but it does have a few restrictions
Sign up for the 15 day free trial

Social Motus ($)

Social Motus is a complete social marketing platform that will help you manage your Facebook and Twitter profiles.
You’ll also be able to schedule posts, find highly targeted prospects and track the success of your marketing campaigns.
You can also monitor your blog or brand name to see what is being said – great for reputation management.
Sign up for an account here

Sendible ($)

The problem with a lot of social media management tools is that they only support a few services, what If I could show you a tool that allows you to manage a huge number of social platforms easily?
It’d be great right?
Well, say hello to Sendible!
Here are a few of the social media sites that Sendible supports:

• Facebook
• Google+
• Linkedin
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Ning
• Instagram
• Foursquare
• Delicious
• Diigo
• Instapaper
• Tumblr
• Blogspot
• WordPress
• WordPress.com
• Typepad

… The list continues.
In addition to being able to manage the above platforms you can also measure the success of everything you publish, monitor, respond and more.
There’s also built in support for an SMS auto responder and a number of free email services along with more cool stuff.
Sounds good right?
Pricing starts at around $15.
Sign up for the 30 day free trial

Rounding up …

Now you’ve had a good look at what social media management tools are available on the market, I hope you can come to a good decision to really make your mark on social media.
The tools I’ve listed incorporate a good mix of tools that do other awesome things, especially the likes of Raven Tools that will turn you and your blog into a marketing powerhouse with all the tools you’ll need to succeed.
And right down to straight up productivity tools that enable you to get more from social such as Social Oomph.
So now my question to you is – what do you find difficult about managing your social media accounts?

Recruitment Ads Not Getting Results? Try Surprising Broca!

AVOID SAYING THINGS IN THE USUAL WAY

I came home and my dog was bald.  I then realized that in my rush to get to my new job - which I absolutely love -  I left the electric razor on.  It looks like Fido had as much fun at work today as I did.  Are you looking for an opportunity where you too can have that kind of excitement to get to work each morning?  Consider this…

Okay, the above example is a bit over the top.  The point is that when you post a position on your website, job board, social media, or anywhere else, the more interesting you make it, the more people will actually read it and be excited by it.  Think of these job postings as if they are TV or radio commercials for the position you are recruiting for.  The dull commercials are quickly forgotten (or you don’t know what they are trying to sell), the exciting commercials have you thinking about their message.

There is an area of the brain called Broca’s Area.  Broca’s Area is the area that filters what the brain will pay attention to, and what gets filtered out.  You must surprise Broca in some way if you want to be remembered.

When writing postings, think about what makes this job exciting or unique.  Will your heading and intro be unique enough to draw them in and make them want to read more?  It may be a simple as “30 seconds off the freeway with free parking!” (a big perk in a large market) or as grandiose as “Enjoy cook to order breakfasts & massages at work!”

 You get the idea.  The next time you have a job commercial to write, have some serious, but professional fun.  You will be surprised by the results.

What Is RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) And Is It Right For You?

 As an industry, our approach to recruiting has drastically changed over the past 20 years.  With the development and advancement of social media, the emergence of the millennial generation entering the workforce, and an increasingly decentralized workforce, organizations are more transparent than ever, and candidates expect more.

In 1993 recruiting resembled purchasing.  Organizations had a position to fill and candidates lined up to fill the position.  Today organizations strive to be an employer of choice as they position themselves in the marketplace.  Twenty years ago companies used traditional sources like newspapers to post positions.  Sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder were just coming into existence.

In today’s market, the candidate has become more sophisticated and demands more information about the company, leadership, and direction than ever before.  Additionally, the number of avenues that one can use to try to reach these candidates can be overwhelming.  Vehicles and tools that worked yesterday may not be adequate today.  Add to this that the cost to recruit quality candidates has soared when you factor in the expense of hiring a recruiter, working with temporary staffing firms or paying contingency recruitment fees that can be as high as 30%.

In Recent years, another option has been gaining momentum.  RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) is a service where an outside firm manages all or part of the recruitment function.  This can be for a single position, specific department or an entire company.  They can handle the entire search, or only parts of the recruiting function like sourcing and screening.  The RPO firm becomes a temporary partner/expansion to your Human Resources Department equipped with the knowledge, skills, tools, technologies to immediately improve recruiting results!

This type of service is typically less expensive then hiring an internal recruiter, and significantly cheaper than working with temporary agencies or paying contingency fees – often saving as much as 60%.  You own the product of all work done for you by the RPO firm and can utilize sourced candidates for future needs at no additional cost.  You set the number of hours each week that they support you and most RPO firms will allow you to stop and start the service at any time.

Another benefit of working with an RPO firm is that they will have a team of seasoned recruiters that to support their clients.  These recruiters are well versed in how to find candidates utilizing the most sophisticated technologies of today.

There are a number of situations where an RPO solution can net you strong results:

·      You have difficult to fill positions

·      Anticipated increase in hiring activity

·      Great variances in the volume of your hiring

·      Internal resources are minimal or non-existent

·      Need to reduce recruitment expenses

·      You presently have hiring manager dissatisfaction in time-to-fill or quality

·      Need to increase your employment brand over competition

The process to get started with this type of service is simple, but there are a few critical areas you will want to cover.  Make sure the RPO provider conducts a detailed Needs Analysis for each position and takes the time to understand the unique characteristics of your company.  Establish the process that you would like the RPO firm to follow.  Finally, just like you would with an internal employee, you will want to define performance goals, metrics to measure success and understand the reports you will receive to analyze progress.

Incorporating an RPO solution into your business plan can be a powerful and flexible solution that you may want to draw upon many times in the growth of your business.  If you have questions about this type of solution, shoot me an email at jtaylor@skywalkgroup.com

Engage Your Customers in a Discussion!

When speaking with your customers, don't just speak to them and give them information...engage them in the conversation! Discuss with them why they are interested, what impact it will in in their lives or how they will use it.

Remember, people generally comprehend:
* 11 percent of what they hear.
* 32 percent of what they see.
* 73 percent of what they see and hear.
* 90 percent of what they see, hear and discuss.

Encourage Participation With Your Team

When leading a sales meeting, do not do all the talking yourself. Salespeople (and most other people) hate to be lectured to.

Ask questions and listen to the answers. Ask for opinions, and always question the reason for a particular opinion. Remember, people generally comprehend:
* 11 percent of what they hear.
* 32 percent of what they see.
* 73 percent of what they see and hear.
* 90 percent of what they see, hear and discuss.
Source: Business coach/consultant Jonathan Farrington

Apple's New iPod Nano Featuring FM Receiver Showcases Radio's Importance

Radio is Premier Source for New Music

AcquisitionRadio's 235 million weekly listeners will now have another way to listen to Radio, with the launch of Apple's new iPod nano featuring an FM receiver, which will also offer live pause capability as well as iTunes tagging to the user experience.

According to Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan, "Apple clearly recognizes that Radio is the number one source for new music acquisition and has made it simpler and easier for today's listeners to access the audio entertainment they value so highly. The ability to bring a live listening experience together with digitally stored music will have a dramatic impact in listener involvement."

This announcement in tandem with the news that Microsoft's Zune will offer an HD Radio feature underscores the dominant listening position that local broadcast Radio holds in the U.S. Reaching 92 percent of Americans, it is clear that Radio fits seamlessly into the modern media lifestyle.

"Radio is an important part of the media mix for today's time-starved and mobile consumer and will remain adaptive as new technology continues to improve the medium," Smulyan stated. "In addition, the broader distribution of Radio on mobile devices will make for a safer and more informed public."

Radio's Emergency Alert System (EAS), now in existence for over 60 years on all broadcast Radio stations, plays an important role in alerting local audiences to storms, disasters and other public safety threats. "The adoption of FM on mp3 players and cell phones increases the likelihood that a mobile listener will be fully informed," Smulyan added.
(Source:www.rab.com 9/10/09)